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Veterans

 

Barack Obama believes we have a sacred trust with our veterans that begins the moment a service member enlists.

Whether it was in the Illinois Senate or the U.S. Senate, Obama has always been a strong champion of our men and women in uniform and has fought to make sure that our veterans receive the benefits they have earned. As a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Barack Obama has fought to end benefit disparities, bring homeless veterans in off the streets, strengthen mental health care, add billions of dollars in additional Department of Veterans Affairs funding, and reform a system that often places barriers between veterans and the benefits they have earned.

As President, Obama will always fight to ensure that Virginia’s 6,800 servicemembers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have all the equipment, training and support they need to complete their mission and that Virginia’s more than 800,000 veterans have the education, health care and housing benefits they need after they have finished serving our country.

    

 

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Ensure a Seamless Transition:

More than 638,000 new VA claims are expected over the next 5 years. Barack Obama will demand that the military and the VA coordinate to provide a seamless transition from active duty to civilian life.

Fully Fund VA Medical Care:

Currently veterans face delays and long wait-times in seeking VA health care appointments. Without assured funding year after year, our veterans are forced to make do with the VA they have rather than the VA they deserve. Obama will fully fund the VA so it has all the resources it needs to serve the veterans who need it, when they need it.

Strengthen VA Care:

Obama will make the VA a leader of national health care reform so that the millions of veterans who are treated in VA health care facilities annually get the best care possible. He will improve care for polytrauma vision impairment, prosthetics, spinal cord injury, aging, and women’s health.

Allow All Veterans Back into the VA:

Barack Obama is committed to ending the unfair ban on healthcare enrollment of certain groups of veterans, including “Priority 8” veterans who often earn modest incomes. Obama has voted to end this unfair policy, which has resulted in the VA turning away nearly one million veterans since 2003. As president, one of Barack Obama’s first acts will be signing an executive order reversing this ban.

Fix the Benefits Bureaucracy:

There are more than 840,000 claims pending at the VA. The average processing time for a VA Claim now stands at 177 days. In the Senate, Barack Obama has voted to increase funding to hire needed additional claims staff. As President, Obama will hire additional claims workers and convene our nation’s leading veterans groups, employees and managers to develop an updated training and management model that will ensure that VA benefit decisions are rated fairly and consistently, and stem from adequate training and accountability for each claims adjudicator.

Create a “Green Vet Initiative”:

The renewable energy economy is exploding in the United States. In terms of venture capital alone, private investment in the sector topped $2.6 billion dollars in 2007. At the same time, more than 837,000 troops who served in Iraq or Afghanistan are now veterans. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will ensure that more of our veterans can enter the new energy economy. They will create a new “Green Vet Initiative” that will have two missions: first it will offer counseling and job placement to help veterans gain the skills to enter this rapidly growing field; second, it will work with industry partners to create career pathways and educational programs.

Combat Homelessness Among Our Nation’s Veterans:

Approximately 25 percent of America’s homeless are veterans. Nearly 200,000 veterans across the country and 900 Virginia veterans are homeless on any given night. Obama will establish a national “zero tolerance” policy for veterans falling into homelessness by expanding proven programs and launching innovative services to prevent veterans from falling into homelessness.

Fight Veterans Employment Discrimination:

The current process of assisting reservists with employment discrimination complaints is disjointed and ineffective. Between 2004 and 2006 alone, over 16,000 complaints were filed although a Defense Department survey showed that less than 30 percent of Guard members and reservists with eligible discrimination problems ever sought assistance. As president, Barack Obama will invest additional resources into enforcement and investigation in order to crack down on employers who are not following the letter and spirit of the law. He will also require the federal government to work together to ensure the rights of our troops are being protected.

Improve Mental Health Treatment:

According to a study by the RAN Corp., nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan – 300,000 – report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression. Obama will improve mental health care at every stage of military service. He will recruit more health professionals, improve screening, offer more support to families and make PTSD benefits claims fairer.

Improve Care for Traumatic Brain Injury:

Preliminary research by the DOD and VA’s Brain Injury center shows that about 10 percent of all troops in Iraq, and up to 20 percent of front line infantry troops, suffer concussions during combat tours due to the use of IEDs and other explosives. Many experience headaches, disturbed sleep, memory loss and behavior issues after coming home – a condition known as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). According to a study by the RAND Corp., close to 300,000 men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan reported experiencing a possible TBI while deployed. Obama will establish standards of care for TBI, and will fund improved diagnosis and treatment, mandatory screenings, enhanced case oversight, and expanded TBI research.

Expand Vet Centers:

Vet Centers are often the first line of defense for veterans to get help in their communities by offering counseling for vets and their families. They provide counseling for mental health care, sexual trauma and substance abuse. They also provide vocational and employment assistance, VA claims and benefits information, help for homeless veterans, social service and health care referrals. Obama will expand and strengthen Vet Centers to provide more counseling for vets and their families.